The Surrender Chosen as Stereofame.com’s December 2010 Artist of the Month

L.A. based rock band the Surrender brings an old-school rock swagger to new wave.

The blues/rock disciple, the synth-pop convert, the hair-metal drummer and the post-pop/punk troubadour. Throw all of these personalities together and you would certainly have the unlikeliest of musical collaborations. However, you might also end up with one of the most surprising and refreshing rock bands to come along in a while.

The southern California-based quartet, the Surrender, seem to harness the wildly diverse backgrounds of each of its members and funnel them into an honest brand of loud, thumping, pulsing, sparkling, and unapologetically moody arena rock. They are also Stereofame.com’s Artist of the Month for December 2010, marking the second time the band has received the honor.

“It’s really humbling and gratifying to know that your hard work is being recognized and appreciated,” frontman Collin Elliott said.

Elliott comes from a blues-influenced school of rock. According to him, he grew up wanting to be the next Stevie Ray Vaughan before becoming enchanted by the rootsy sound of alternative country singer-songwriters like Ryan Adams and Steve Earle.

“I didn’t really have a lot of experience playing with different bands growing up, so I tended towards music that I could write and play on the acoustic guitar,” Elliott said.

Guitarist Neil Parek and drummer Mike Balboa come from the Def Leppard school of rock and represent the band’s longest standing relationship. The two met in elementary school and, bonded by their shared appreciation of the colorful and bombastic hair-metal bands of the day, grew up playing in various bands together.

The lineup is rounded out by bassist Shawn Dailey, who grew up Santa Barbara playing in pop/punk bands.

“You can really hear the history between (Parek and Balboa) by the way they play together and how they influence each other’s ideas. They speak the same language musically,” Elliott said.

The obvious touchstones now are U2, Coldplay and Muse. But the Surrender has a subtle undercurrent of new wave, British melancholy in the vein of the Cure.

“We’re a band whose parts really don’t make sense together,” Elliott said, “but we know good music when we hear it. Each one of us brings something to the table that changes the destination of each song we write in a pretty unique way.”

The community of Stereofame seems to agree. After being chosen as Artist of the Month for a second time, the Surrender has the opportunity to be discovered by more and more new fans all across the globe.

“Stereofame has provided us with so many opportunities and great experiences,” Elliott said. “They really seem to understand the needs of unsigned artists. They so clearly love all types of music and it shows in the diversity of the site. Putting our music on Stereofame has been, without a doubt, the best decision we’ve made as a band.”

As Stereofame’s December 2010 Artist of the Month, the Surrender will get valuable exposure to an international audience in addition to a ,000 prize. Stereofame is a one-of-a-kind community where artists are judged objectively by the listening audience. Artists gather more points as they rise in rank and refer their fans from other sites. Plus, artists can sell their music here, too, so they’re getting serious points while making money, something iTunes doesn’t offer!

Listeners are also rewarded for their input, as they can earn points for listening to a song and giving it a “thumbs up or down,” and writing thoughtful reviews. They can help talented artists get the attention they deserve by signing artists to their virtual record label and then promoting their signed artists to their friends. Of course, fans get tons of points for buying music and bringing people to the site, too.

All these points can be cashed in for various prizes such as iPods, musical equipment, gift cards and more.

Think you’ve got what it takes to be Stereofame’s next Artist of the Month? Then go to Stereofame.com and upload three songs to http://www.Stereofame.com/contest/artist-of-the-month.html. And if you’re a fan, log on to Stereofame.com today to help some of tomorrow’s biggest and brightest stars get heard and earn some sweet prizes at the same time!